Her degree says “doctor of podiatric medicine” or some such. She’s earned the title “doctor”. Call her what she wants to be called. But she’d best not rush to any cardiac arrests at my institution.
Ophthalmologist = MD with 1 year general residency and 3 to 6 years specialized training in eye medicine.
The feature optometrists share with podiatrists are that both have degees with “doctor” in them, but neither are MD’s or DO’s. As such, on the state level, their licenses fall under the board of Podiatry and the board of Optometry, as opposed to the Board of Medicine
Except in the highly enlightened state of New Mexico, where a shortage of psychiatrists has been “solved” by allowing psychologists who take a course of training in pharmacology to prescribe psychotropic drugs.
A little etymology here. Fasces are sheaves. Of wheat or of tendons. Sheaves of wheat were a symbol of Mussolini’s party, which then got to be called fascist. I think both the word and the symbol referred to the collectivist aspect. There is a sheaf of wheat on the back of the US dime, BTW. Meantime the sheaf of tendons in the bottom of the foot that goes from toes to the heel is also fasces.
I would trust a podiatrist to fix ingrown toenails, and stuff that grows on the skin such as what Hari Seldon mentioned. However, with structural foot problems like I have, the pods that I’ve been to just want to fit me with some expensive orthotic insoles and get rid of me. Insoles seem to be the pod’s panacea, but I’m completely unconvinced of their effectiveness.
I also saw an orthopedic MD who specializes in the foot. He didn’t really help me either, but he explained my options without simply saying “you need orthotics!”
There are two broad classes of podiatrists: primary care and surgical. You may want to look for a pod who is a member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS). If you haven’t seen a surgical podiatrist, you might have a better experience. (NOTA BENE: This is not actual medical advice).
Also, there are two types of orthotics: accommodative and functional. In very broad terms, accomodative orthotics attempt to help the foot absorb forces or to protect the foot from shock and stress. Functional orthotics attempt to control the function and gait of the foot. (That’s a crappy definition, but I think you get the picture). Sometimes, even structural foot problems (like,say, mine) can be treated by functional orthotics. I wouldn’t dismiss them completely.
That said, orthotics remain one of the largest sources of income, especially as insurance reimbursements for other parts of a practice drop. So there is a potential for abuse. I have not seen this as widespread among my wife’s colleagues. As Qadgop says, there is a wide variety of practioners in terms of pratice style and quality.
I have been podiatrist myself and went to real medical school after that. Podiatrist can not take care of whole human body and are not allow to neither and If they step out of USA , including mexico or canada ,or any even 3rd world countries their degree is useless and not allow to even see foot so Seinfeld joke was based on fact otherwise wouldn’t be funny at all
I have been podiatrist myself and went to real medical school after that. Podiatrist can not take care of whole human body and are not allow to neither and If they step out of USA , including mexico or many other countries denmark, brazil, japan ,etc ,or any even 3rd world countries their degree is useless and not allow to even see foot so Seinfeld joke was based on fact otherwise wouldn’t be funny at all
I don’t doubt your experiences, but I would like to add two of mine. My doctor sent me to a podiatrist because my orthotics were nearly 15 years old. They could have changed; my feet could have changed. She spent 15-20 minutes examining me and announced that my orthotics still fit fine. No charge! Not even for the examination. I went to my optometrist because I have one eye with poor vision. He spent a half hour and then said that nothing he could prescribe would really help and my current glasses were fine. No charge! I even asked him if he wasn’t in the business of selling glasses. Yes, but not if the customer was not going to be happy at the end.
